Future production of clean energy from waste

Monday

Sep 23, 2013 at 3:00 PM

Gov. John Hickenlooper met with Creative Energy Systems officials Joe Yavorski and John Becker as well as Otero County and La Junta officials at noon on Saturday at the site of the proposed Creative Energy plant for the area. The plant will be constructed on the lot behind the old Gibson's store if current obstacles are overcome.

Bette McFarrenbmcfarren@ljtdmail.com

Gov. John Hickenlooper met with Creative Energy Systems officials Joe Yavorski and John Becker as well as Otero County and La Junta officials at noon on Saturday at the site of the proposed Creative Energy plant for the area. The plant will be constructed on the lot behind the old Gibson's store if current obstacles are overcome.

Hickenlooper said that he could see the potential for thousands of well-paying jobs in eastern Colorado and will do all he can to encourage the legislators to clear the way for the new clean energy plants.

Preliminary measures have been passed by the legislature for energy to be produced from waste tires and solid municipal waste. All of the possible subsidies and tax advantages will be needed to run a profitable enterprise, said CEO Yavorski on Saturday. The plant will produce methane and use its own gas to run the turbines which will produce electricity, after the initial start-up with natural gas.

One problem for Creative Energies is the tax structure in the United States and in Colorado, which takes from 38 to 45 per cent of the income, as compared with 20 percent in foreign locations such as Luxembourg. However, a plant is running in California.

Yavorski explained that the two sites going forward in Colorado at this time are in Fort Morgan and La Junta. The plant uses the tires and solid municipal waste from landfills. Otero County Landfill, Inc. is truly a regional operation, said Otero County Commissioner Kevin Karney, in that it takes in waste from many nearby municipalities, such as Fowler, Manzanola, and even some from Pueblo and Las Animas.

This would be a win-win situation in taking the pressure off the landfill and at the same time producing a clean base load of electricity. While wind and solar energy are intermittent sources of energy, clean energy produced from waste can maintain a steady base load. Pyrolysis is the process: a thermochemical decomposition of organic material at elevated temperatures in the absence of oxygen (or any halogen).

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